SHSUCDX CD-ROM driver and FSHARE issues

[ppgrainbow]

Hello!

I'm trying to get the SHSUCDX CD-ROM driver working in MS-DOS 6.22 when running under Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 on the Windows 2000 host machine and I'm running into serious problems trying to get the CD-ROM ISOs to read properly. I click on Capture ISO image from the CD menu and select the Corel Draw 3 CD-ROM ISO from one of the files lying around on one of my hard drives.

Now, here's the problem. When I type dir in drive X (that's the CD-ROM drive letter that I assigned it to), only one directory and no files show up. Here's the output:

C:\>x:

X:\>dir

 Volume in drive X is D3D1ES_CD2F
 Directory of X:\

CATALOG      <DIR>         11-29-93   7:18p
        1 file(s)              0 bytes
                               0 bytes free

X:\>

The only problem here is that the contents of the Corel Draw 3 CD-ROM ISO is supposed to show all of the files in that directory. If I don't load FSHARE, all of the contents in that directory get displayed:

 Volume in drive X is D3D1ES_CD2F
 Directory of X:\

CATALOG      <DIR>         11-29-93   7:18p
CDBASED      <DIR>         01-24-95  11:24a
CDRMEM   DLL        16,265 10-25-92  12:00p
CDROM    INF        26,673 10-25-92  12:00p
CDRUI    DLL        58,192 10-25-92  12:00p
CHART        <DIR>         01-24-95  11:24a
CLIPART      <DIR>         01-24-95   6:12p
DDEML    DLL        36,864 10-25-92  12:00p
DRAW         <DIR>         01-24-95  11:24a
DRAW     INF        60,567 01-25-95   4:29p
DRAW     MST        47,811 01-24-95   2:38p
DRAW2    MST        28,171 01-24-95   1:35p
FILTERS      <DIR>         01-24-95  11:25a
FONTS        <DIR>         01-24-95  12:10p
LIBRARY      <DIR>         01-24-95  11:25a
MOSAIC       <DIR>         01-24-95  11:36a
MOSDDE   DLL         7,902 10-25-92  12:00p
MSCOMSTF DLL        74,528 10-25-92  12:00p
MSCUISTF DLL       252,000 01-24-95   2:34p
MSDETECT INC         6,981 10-25-92  12:00p
MSDETSTF DLL        24,544 10-25-92  12:00p
MSINSSTF DLL        65,440 10-25-92  12:00p
MSSHLSTF DLL        13,824 10-25-92  12:00p
MSUILSTF DLL         6,144 10-25-92  12:00p
NET      INF        24,321 10-25-92  12:00p
NET      LST           724 10-25-92  12:00p
NET      MST        31,541 10-25-92  12:00p
PHOTOPNT     <DIR>         01-24-95  11:36a
README   TXT        27,152 10-25-92  12:00p
REDIST       <DIR>         01-24-95  11:36a
SCANCD   EXE        70,148 10-25-92  12:00p
SETUP    EXE        24,048 10-25-92  12:00p
SETUP    LST           754 10-25-92  12:00p
SETUP2   EXE         5,480 10-25-92  12:00p
SETUPAPI INC        38,124 10-25-92  12:00p
SHELL    DLL        41,600 10-25-92  12:00p
SHOW         <DIR>         01-24-95  11:36a
SPELDICT     <DIR>         01-24-95  11:37a
TRACE        <DIR>         01-24-95  11:37a
TRANSLAT INC         6,306 01-25-95   3:41p
VER      DLL         9,008 10-25-92  12:00p
_MSTEST  EXE        89,504 10-25-92  12:00p
       42 file(s)      1,094,616 bytes
                               0 bytes free

So far, here is what I have in the contents of my CONFIG.SYS file:

REM Load the Virtual Machine additions driver.
device=c:\dos\vmadd386.sys

REM Set common system settings.
switches=/f /n
files=50
buffers=20

REM Disable old FCBS support.
fcbs=1,0

REM Disable DOS STACKS.
stacks=0,0

REM Set the LASTDRIVE variable to Z.
lastdrive=z

REM Set MS-DOS to load hight and use upper memory blocks.
dos=high,umb

REM Load GRUB4DOS before loading drivers.
device=c:\grub\grub.exe --config-file=(hd0,0)//boot/menu.lst

REM Load the HIMEM device driver and don't test system memory.
devicehigh=c:\dos\himem.sys /numhandles=128 /testmem:off /q

REM Load the EMM386 memory manager driver and provide up to
REM 115 KB of upper memory by including B000-B777 and CC00-DFFF.
device=c:\dos\emm386.exe noems /min=0 /i=b000-b7ff /i=cc00-dfff /v

REM Load the DOSMax driver utility.
device=c:\max\dosmax.exe N+ P- R- U02 U08 U09 U0A U0B U0C U0D U0E U70 U72 U73

REM Load the Oak CD-ROM driver in high memory.
devicehigh /l:2=c:\dos\cdrom.sys /d:vpc

REM Load the Installable File System Helper into upper memory.
devicehigh /l:1=c:\windows\ifshlp.sys

REM Set the size of environmental space for the Command Interpreter
REM (COMMAND.COM to 4 KB and load it into high memory.
shell=c:\max\shellmax.com /n+ /p- /r- /s- c:\command.com /e:4096 /p

And here are the contents of my AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

@echo off

REM Set the path search for all common apps.
path c:\dc21x4;c:\dos;c:\ie;c:\max;c:\ndw;c:\pkzip;c:\popdos;c:\windows
path %path%;c:\4dos;c:\deskmate;c:\hxdos\bin;c:\lxpic;c:\wget;d:\stella

REM Display the current path at the command prompt.
prompt $p$g

REM Load the IDLE driver in high memory.
lh /l:1,640 idle

REM Start the network.
lh c:\windows\net start

REM Set the following path variables for the directories below.
set bin=c:\turboc\bin
set dmconfig=c:\deskmate
set temp=c:\temp
set wattcp.cfg=c:\wattcp

REM Start ENVIMAX.
envimax

REM Load the SHSUCDX CD-ROM driver.
lh /l:2 shsucdx /d:vpc /l:x

REM Load FSHARE folder sharing utility in high memory.
lh fshare

REM Load the mouse driver at single speed.
lh mouse /1

REM Load the HIDE87 terminate-and-stay resident (TSR) program.
hide87

REM Start MS-DOS Shell.
dosshell

It turns out that Microsoft Virtual PC 2004's FSHARE utility and the SHSUCDX CD-ROM driver are incompatible with each other. I even tried to use a older version of FSHARE from the trial version of Connectix Virtual PC 5.2, but it wasn't much of a help. Here is the complete information on how are the drivers that I have loaded in MS-DOS 6.22 in conventional (base) memory, upper memory and modules using the memory below 1 MB:

Conventional (Base) Memory detail:

Segment               Total        Name         Type
-------          ----------------  -----------  --------
 00000              1,039    (1K)               Interrupt Vector
 00040                271    (0K)               ROM Communication Area
 00050                527    (1K)               DOS Communication Area
 00070              3,152    (3K)  IO           System Data
                                      CON       System Device Driver
                                      AUX       System Device Driver
                                      PRN       System Device Driver
                                      CLOCK$    System Device Driver
                                      A: - H:   System Device Driver
                                      COM1      System Device Driver
                                      LPT1      System Device Driver
                                      LPT2      System Device Driver
                                      LPT3      System Device Driver
                                      COM2      System Device Driver
                                      COM3      System Device Driver
                                      COM4      System Device Driver
 00135              5,248    (5K)  MSDOS        System Data
 0027D              6,480    (6K)  IO           System Data
                    1,104    (1K)     XMSXXXX0  Installed Device=HIMEM
                    5,328    (5K)     EMMQXXX0  Installed Device=EMM386
 00412                 16    (0K)  MSDOS        System Program
 00413                 80    (0K)  MSDOS        System Program
 00418                288    (0K)  HIDE87       Environment
 0042A                 80    (0K)  MSDOS        -- Free --
 0042F              6,224    (6K)  SHSUCDX      Program
 005B4                336    (0K)  HIDE87       Program
 005C9                272    (0K)  MEM          Environment
 005DA             88,992   (87K)  MEM          Program
 01B94            542,384  (530K)  MSDOS        -- Free --

Upper Memory detail:

Segment  Region       Total        Name         Type
-------  ------  ----------------  -----------  --------
 0B15C       1        240    (0K)  DOSMAX       Program
 0B16B       1      3,888    (4K)  IO           System Data
                    3,856    (4K)     IFS$HLP$  Installed Device=IFSHLP
 0B25E       1      2,688    (3K)  FILES        Program
 0B306       1         96    (0K)  FCBS         Program
 0B30C       1        528    (1K)  WKBUFFER     Program
 0B32D       1      2,304    (2K)  LASTDRIV     Program
 0B3BD       1        160    (0K)  INSTALL      Program
 0B3C7       1        208    (0K)  IDLE         Environment
 0B3D4       1        400    (0K)  IDLE         Program
 0B3ED       1        208    (0K)  MSDOS        -- Free --
 0B3FA       1      1,440    (1K)  NDISHLP      Program
 0B454       1      4,112    (4K)  COMMAND      Environment
 0B555       1        288    (0K)  FSHARE       Environment
 0B567       1        272    (0K)  MOUSE        Environment
 0B578       1      8,752    (9K)  MOUSE        Program
 0B79B       1      1,584    (2K)  MSDOS        -- Free --

 0C601       2      4,240    (4K)  IO           System Data
                    4,208    (4K)     VPC       Installed Device=CDROM
 0C70A       2      3,904    (4K)  MSDOS        -- Free --

 0CC01       3      2,656    (3K)  COMMAND      Program
 0CCA7       3        400    (0K)  PROTMAN      Program
 0CCC0       3     42,704   (42K)  DC21X4       Program
 0D72D       3     26,448   (26K)  FSHARE       Program
 0DDA2       3      9,696    (9K)  MSDOS        -- Free --

Modules using memory below 1 MB:

Name           Total       =   Conventional   +   Upper Memory
--------  ----------------   ----------------   ----------------
MSDOS       10,189   (10K)     10,189   (10K)          0    (0K)
HIMEM        1,120    (1K)      1,120    (1K)          0    (0K)
EMM386       5,488    (5K)      5,488    (5K)          0    (0K)
HIDE87         624    (1K)        624    (1K)          0    (0K)
SHSUCDX      6,224    (6K)      6,224    (6K)          0    (0K)
DOSMAX         240    (0K)          0    (0K)        240    (0K)
IFSHLP       3,904    (4K)          0    (0K)      3,904    (4K)
FILES        2,688    (3K)          0    (0K)      2,688    (3K)
FCBS            96    (0K)          0    (0K)         96    (0K)
WKBUFFER       528    (1K)          0    (0K)        528    (1K)
LASTDRIV     2,304    (2K)          0    (0K)      2,304    (2K)
INSTALL        160    (0K)          0    (0K)        160    (0K)
IDLE           608    (1K)          0    (0K)        608    (1K)
NDISHLP      1,440    (1K)          0    (0K)      1,440    (1K)
COMMAND      6,768    (7K)          0    (0K)      6,768    (7K)
FSHARE      26,736   (26K)          0    (0K)     26,736   (26K)
MOUSE        9,024    (9K)          0    (0K)      9,024    (9K)
CDROM        4,256    (4K)          0    (0K)      4,256    (4K)
PROTMAN        400    (0K)          0    (0K)        400    (0K)
DC21X4      42,704   (42K)          0    (0K)     42,704   (42K)
Free       646,848  (632K)    631,456  (617K)     15,392   (15K)

Memory Summary:

Type of Memory       Total   =    Used    +    Free
----------------  ----------   ----------   ----------
Conventional         655,360       23,904      631,456
Upper                117,248      101,856       15,392
Reserved             393,216      393,216            0
Extended (XMS)    65,943,040      312,832   65,630,208
----------------  ----------   ----------   ----------
Total memory      67,108,864      831,808   66,277,056

Total under 1 MB     772,608      125,760      646,848

Memory accessible using Int 15h              0     (0K)
Largest executable program size        631,360   (617K)
Largest free upper memory block          9,696     (9K)
Available space in High Memory Area     10,608    (10K)
MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area.

XMS version  3.00; driver version  3.95

I was very lucky enough to squeeze the FSHARE folder sharing utility and the Intel DC21X4 driver into upper memory, leaving out no more than 632 KB of memory (under 1 MB) and the largest executable programme size being no bigger than 617 KB. If I use MS-DOS's MSCDEX driver, it takes up an additional 22 KB of base memory, leaving no more than 610 KB of base memory under 1 MB and 595 KB for the largest executable file. And MEM is reporting that there is 115 KB of upper memory with up to 79 KB available at boot. When all of the device drivers get loaded in high memory, 15 KB of upper memory will be available.

Is there an updated version of SHSUCDX or a alternate driver that will correct this issue or a way to fix the errors in the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that folder sharing and the CD-ROM driver can work together? The latest version that I have installed is version 3.05 dated 2011-02-11.

I'm sorry for posting such a long comment, but I'm not feeling too comfortable to the fact that Microsoft MS-DOS's MSCDEX driver for MS-DOS 6.22 uses no less than 27 KB. Also the NWCDEX driver (from Novell DOS and DR-DOS) is bloated, because it uses no less than 61 KB of upper memory.

I'm stumped.

Edited December 17, 2012 by ppgrainbow

[dencorso]

There are at least two branches of the SHSUCDX CD-ROM Driver: Jack Ellis' and Jason Hood's, besides the original by John McCoy, and there are various versions of each of them. I'd try, at least, the latest version by each of those authors.

[ppgrainbow]

There are at least two branches of the SHSUCDX CD-ROM Driver: Jack Ellis' and Jason Hood's, besides the original by John McCoy, and there are various versions of each of them. I'd try, at least, the latest version by each of those authors.

Thank you for pointing these links out. I tried the original version of the SHSUCDX driver by John McCoy and the current version, but it seems that it didn't work.

Additionally when I unload the SHSUCDX driver using SHSUCDX /U comment, any attempts to access the folds on the shared folder as a network drive returns an "Invalid function".

When Microsoft included FSHARE in its Virtual Machine Additions for DOS (used in Virtual PC 2004), I suspect that it wasn't very stable to begin with and didn't work correctly with either EMM386 or alternate CD-ROM drivers.

Is there a way to hex-edit FSHARE to make it work here? I'm starting to run out of options.

[dencorso]

There are at least two branches of the SHSUCDX CD-ROM Driver: Jack Ellis' and Jason Hood's, besides the original by John McCoy, and there are various versions of each of them. I'd try, at least, the latest version by each of those authors.

Thank you for pointing these links out. I tried the original version of the SHSUCDX driver by John McCoy and the current version, but it seems that it didn't work.

Both current versions? Jack Ellis' latest version v. 3.03F (or the previous one, v. 3.03E) is, IMHO, far superior, to Jason Hood's latest (V. 3.05). They are quite different, nowadays, so it's perfectly possible that one works where the other fails. Then you have Jack Ellis' XMGR. Then there is Japheth's Jemm... If one has time for experimenting (of which I regretably have very little, nowadays), there're many variations to try, before giving up.

Now, that said, I'm not familiar with FSHARE to advise you specifically about it.

[submix8c]

So... you're trying to do a VPC Share under DOS AND you have a problem with the CD-ROM at the same time?

I use a couple of DOS Ghost floppies and don't use vmadd386.sys or an EMM. But here's a write-up on it (for my own ref also) -

http://www.winvistatips.com/vmadd386-sys-t514852.html

MS info on other modules (lacks VMADD info) -

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833146

Edited December 17, 2012 by submix8c

[ppgrainbow]

There are at least two branches of the SHSUCDX CD-ROM Driver: Jack Ellis' and Jason Hood's, besides the original by John McCoy, and there are various versions of each of them. I'd try, at least, the latest version by each of those authors.

Thank you for pointing these links out. I tried the original version of the SHSUCDX driver by John McCoy and the current version, but it seems that it didn't work.

Both current versions? Jack Ellis' latest version v. 3.03F (or the previous one, v. 3.03E) is, IMHO, far superior, to Jason Hood's latest (V. 3.05). They are quite different, nowadays, so it's perfectly possible that one works where the other fails. Then you have Jack Ellis' XMGR. Then there is Japheth's Jemm... If one has time for experimenting (of which I regretably have very little, nowadays), there're many variations to try, before giving up.

Now, that said, I'm not familiar with FSHARE to advise you specifically about it.

Whatever or not they're different or not, these variants of SHSUCDX CD-ROM driver wouldn't work correctly with the FSHARE driver. So, in order to use the MSCDEX CD-ROM driver, I had to enter this command in the CONFIG.SYS file on line 30:

device=c:\dos\emm386.exe noems novcpi i=b100-b7ff i=c600-c7ff i=cc00-cfff i=e600-efff frame=d000 /v

The end result is that I earned up to 150 KB of upper memory upon bootup:

Windows Expanded Memory Driver  Version 4.95
Copyright 1988-1995 Microsoft Corp.

EMM386 successfully installed.

Expanded memory services unavailable.
  Total upper memory available  . . . . . .   150 KB
  Largest Upper Memory Block available  . .    79 KB
  Upper memory starting address . . . . . .  B100 H

EMM386 Active.

I had to settle with up to 625 KB available with the largest executable being no more than 596 KB available.

[ppgrainbow]

So... you're trying to do a VPC Share under DOS AND you have a problem with the CD-ROM at the same time?

I use a couple of DOS Ghost floppies and don't use vmadd386.sys or an EMM. But here's a write-up on it (for my own ref also) -

http://www.winvistatips.com/vmadd386-sys-t514852.html

MS info on other modules (lacks VMADD info) -

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833146

I had a problem with VPC Share under MS-DOS and used the SHSUCDX driver at the same time, not the MSCDEX driver supplied by Microsoft.

I also looked at Ben Armstrong's comment regarding FSHARE and EMM386 and the changes that makes the folder sharing TSR not work at all is not true. I used version 4.95 of the Windows Expanded Memory Manager. As a result, the folder sharing, the MSCDEX CD-ROM driver and EMM386 all work, however this tatic is unsupported and I cannot guarentee that it will work correctly with other alternate memory managers or CD-ROM drivers.